Permafrost Melting CycleBy ruby huerta

Greenhouse Effect

The three greenhouse gasses are Carbon dioxide (CO2), Methane(ch4) and Nitrous oxide(n2o) . Greenhouse gasses are transparent to radiation from the sun but blocks long wave radiation from leaving the Earths atmosphere. The effect traps radiation from the sun and warms the planets surface. More warming occurs than naturally. The reason they are greenhouse gasses is because they have three or more atoms and they capture outgoing infrared energy from Earth and it is warming the planet. They gasses can remain in the atmosphere for a few years up to thousands of years. One reason we have greenhouse gasses is because of human activitys, which one example is fossil fuels. These gasses absorb the infrared radiation. Solar energy is radiated back to the atmosphere and it is heat. Greenhouse gasses absorb the heat that makes it its way to though the atmosphere.

Permafrost melting feedback

Permafrost is soil or rock that is frozen all year. It is found in Alaska and Canada and in the North. " The soil layer on top of the permafrost is called the active layer because it freezes in winter and and thaws in the summer." (http://serc.carleton.edu/eslabs/carbon/5b.html) Although it is frozen plants still tend to grow in the soil at the surface. When the global temperatures permafrost melts the Carbon is released into the atmosphere as methane. Methane is the greenhouse gas that traps heat. Also, the land above it sinks or can change shape. The land that sinks can damage buildings or even airports. The permafrost carbon dioxide feedback is very little negative. "Since the positive permafrost methane effect is greater than the negative permafrost CO2 effect, the combination of the two feedbacks produces a net positive permafrost carbon feedback – or a situation in which warming continues to increase." (https://www.decodedscience.org/melting-permafrost-arctic-tale-two-feedbacks/57919)